Tag Archives: agriculture

Five Acts of Farm Safety

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Act I Excluding safety

Farm life has always involved lots of hard work. Although most have traded hand tools for massive equipment, long hours still wear
farmers down. Wet weather has increased the stress of farming as it
has compacted the different stages of raising a crop into a complicated ball of activities that must be pulled apart like a tangled electric cord. It seems like most people involved with agriculture are tired, stressed and in a hurry. When these three elements join hands they exclude the most important partner in farming-safety.

Act II Safety Sensei

Barb Schmitz from Plummer owns Safety Compliance Services. Barb farms with her husband, Arnold, and teaches people how to stay safe at work. Barb started as a Safety officer in Red Lake County in 1991 and a few years later began a private practice teaching people how to come home from work with as many fingers as when they awoke that morning. The subject of safety is about as interesting as listening to play by play of gray paint drying on a wall, however Barb makes it work with personal stories and fairly
accurate emotional appeal. She inspires as she teaches and brings it
all home when she makes her pupils realize that being safe make it
possible to come home to the families we all cherish. She implores
her fellow man to be safe with a delivery that is equal parts motherly caring and sweetly hectoring nag.

Act III My own personal un-safety

The night before our safety class, I moved the cattle to a different
paddock. It was late so I was tired, I wanted to get back inside the
house so I was rushed-add both of these together and I was stressed. While moving the fence posts, I walked right into a small post which lodged its narrow end into the area where my belt would have been had I been wearing something more than boxer shorts and a t-shirt. At some point, a fair percentage of my weight was balanced somewhere near my center of gravity on top of that little post. After a suitable amount of time, I fell from the post and reacted with anger towards the post. I was unhurt but I was also unsafe.

Act IV Including safety

Barb told me that staying safe on the farm means trading time for
safety. You need to use this time to observe you environment for
hazards like low electric wires when moving an auger or an angry bull standing in a blind spot when moving cattle. You also need to take the time to get some sleep as a sleepy operator possesses an equal reaction time to a drunken operator. Also, keep the kids off the tractor even when they beg; bad habits are learned by example. Stress can make you blind to impending problems so remove the safety blinders as you remove stress. Get some sleep, accept change when it happens plus find the humor in your situation; all acts that will make your life very infertile ground for stress. The biggest guard against stress is belief in a higher power, yes God believes in safety too.

Act V The safest person you know

Barb asked us to write down who was the safest person we know. Those of you who watch the television series “the Office,” will find my answer a little ironic as I wrote down Dwight Schrute. Anyway, take care on the farm this summer; slow down, relax and be the safest person you know.

Letter to Dave

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Dear Dave, I enjoyed our talk last week even thought it was cut short by the Achilles heal of cell phones, the network upon which they operate. The technology which has removed the phone booth from street corners across the nation never sounds as good, nor is as dependable, as the calls made from our kitchen using a phone that hangs on the wall. Anyway, they’re still pretty cool.

This spring has been changed by a real estate transaction. Travis Black and I have worked together for about nine years but recently he and is his family became our new neighbors. In the short time Travis has been a resident in our neck of the plain, he has already established a mammoth garden in addition to all of the work associated with moving into new digs. Last week, Travis came over to help me clear the woods back from our driveway. Just so you know, Dave, Travis is lucky enough to possess a build which would allow him to pass for one of our brothers-he is in no great danger of falling over due to high winds. Now I have seen some guys with a big chest, big arms and spindly legs who crumble at the first sign of physical labor; and then there’s Travis. He looked like a little firewood processing machine as he moved steadily through the brush laying waste to trees both short and tall, taking a break only when he had to occasionally hike up his pants.. I hate brushing; uneven ground, stumps to trip on, hauling chunks of wood through a ditches-the whole thing seems like suitable punishment for bad people. Travis made this mess kinda fun, the mark of a good worker and a person of character. Anyway, I’m glad Travis and his family got out of town into the country where they belong. They should also make this year’s “Bray township Cotillion” much more enjoyable.

Dave, much like you in Carrington, North Dakota; we have had our share of rain and cool temperatures. This is a recipe for good pasture growth which makes the cattle happy. Our pastures contain a lot of alfalfa which can make cattle bloat. Weather conditions have made our cool-season grasses outpace the alfalfa this year which had made bloat very uncommon for us. We have so much lush forage that it clings to our fences and creates “voltage drop” which means the electric shock decreases the further it travels from the fence energizer. A clean fence line will not do this unless it is longer than what the fence energizer is rated to handle. I used to spray fence lines but that only seems to open up ground for weeds to grow and is an unsustainable practice. I would rather divide our fence between more fencers and so that is what I am doing today.

I hope all is going well your way and that you have good neighbors and green pasture.

Your little bro’

An Affair of Plain Living II

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I received inspiration recently from a book titled “Foxfire” to document some of the tasks unique to rural living which I occasionally perform. “Foxfire” was first published in 1972 and included instructions from old-timers on how to render lard, raise a log cabin or even make moonshine; these
activities were called “affairs of plain living.” Last fall, I
explained how to cover a septic tank with straw-which proved to be as
boring a read as the subject matter promised . This week I want to
explain how to build a fence corner. I will talk about something else if I notice your eyes begin to glaze over-or maybe I’ll just juggle.

First off, I like round posts for the corner and a nice railroad tie
to support the corner from the direction of each tensioned wire. If you do not
have the fortitude to dig a proper hole for all posts, you should
hire someone to do it for you-or move back into town. I dig all of my holes to four feet
deep, if you don’t then frost will heave your corner posts and you
will have shamed yourself (that may be a bit strong.) I dig the first
foot of the hole with a shovel then the rest of the way I used a
post hole digger. You should only dig the opening about one foot in
diameter, any wider and it will be difficult to make the surface of
the hole firm-this is important because most of the strength of the
post hole comes from the top foot or so.

After holes are dug, you can simply throw the wider end of your post
into the hole and plumb with a level (or by eye if you’re old-school)
then fill the hole around the post. Do not use the original dirt,
clay or sand that you dug out, use something solid-I like pea rock.
Pea rock is small and fills every crevice around the post and inside
the hole. The portion of soil around the hole that is undisturbed will
be solid, however using the soil you recently disturbed to fill the
hole is short-sighted and will allow the post to tilt under the pressure of the wire when
tightened. Use the black dirt to fill flower pots, the sand for your child’s play area and throw the clay into your neighbor’s field. You should also dig your hole a few inches deeper than four feet so that you can add
a few inches of pea rock on the bottom for drainage.

You must mount a cross-piece between the corner post and each bracing
post. I prefer those extendable steel posts people use to support
basement joists-you can adjust them to any distance and they’re very
strong. Please don’t nail a board on for the cross-piece, it won’t work and, with the final result, you will once again have shamed yourself (still too strong?) The final act of good corners is one of fairly simple engineering. You must wrap a wire from the bottom of the corner post up around the
top of the bracing post and back down to the bottom of the corner
where you splice the wire together. You can then thread a stick in
between the two lengths of wire and twist the stick until the wire
draws together tightly-not tight enough to break but tight enough to make the
corner successful. If you are obsessive about tightening you will break the wire, instead use a little common sense and realize you can only increase the tightness later if you haven’t broken the cross-wire during the initial tightening process.

There you go, how to build a fence corner-an affair of plain living; or content just boring enough to make excellent bedtime reading.

Going back to Gully

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My daytrips usually involve exotic locales such as Carrington, North
Dakota to visit my brother or even so far-flung a location as Austin,
Minnesota to pick-up something I purchased on eBay. This week I made
a ½ daytrip and discovered a nice little town I used to know pretty
well.

1985 was an exciting time for me. I had my first job in radio at the
Fosston station. I sold advertising during the day and one of my most
productive stops was the little town of Gully, Minnesota. Although tiny, Gullyhad several productive businesses that purchased regular radio
advertising and so I stopped pretty often. One of my visits was the
Gully Elevator where Vern Iverson and Vern Wold (“the Verns” music group)played a very good, old-time music show in the break room. I drank coffee and listened a couple of times and really enjoyed their hospitality. I also liked the café back then but made so little money from my work that I
rarely purchased more than pie.

This week I came to Gully to rent the cooperative’s “Gopher Getter.”
The ‘getter is a machine which plows a tunnel into the ground for
pesky gophers and at the same time leaves tasty treats for them
suitable for a last supper. I arrived from the North and could
clearly see Gully a few miles towards the horizon under a light mist
floating above the peat fields. There is a definite transition from
prairie to pine which culminates at West St Paul Avenue and Main
Street on Gully’s north side. When I returned the implement to the
co-op, I came in from south of Gully which meant I rode the hills
along State Highway 92. This is the land I always imagine when I think of
good cattle ground; rolling and grassy with little ravines for
watering and a corral.

I was impressed by business in Gully. There was an elevator,
lumberyard, hardware store, c-store and even a little bar. My left
elbow is permanently crooked from constant coffee drinking so I
stopped at the c-store for something to bolster my trip home. They
offered me free coffee but I always feel free coffee is for regulars
so I left them a dollar. The coffee was good, way better than the
quality suggested by its price. I walked around the hardware store
for a little while and found it equipped well-enough that I could
imagine no household emergency in which I wouldn’t be able to find
supplies for repair. It should also be mentioned that this tiny
little town was the only place I could find a “gopher getter” and the
manager said they’ve had people from as far away as Argyle come to
rent the machine.

I’m safely at home now and having sown my wild oats on another
daytrip that was about as unlike anything Hunter S Thompson ever
tried, I feel no more need to roam. Should I ever again need mild
adventure, or a gopher getter, I shall return to the nice little
productive town of Gully.

Pasture Party

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Herbivores get happy when they find grass plants to eat, so do I. My
happiness is probably not as deep nor as gustatory as my cattle,
although we both feel relief. I am relieved that I no longer have to
feed hay and the cattle are glad they no longer have to eat it. It is
the season to pasture cattle and that means it’s party time.

Most pasture is still brown however we will break on through to the
“other
side,” where the pasture is always greener. I don’t mind some old
forage as it balances out the new grass. It provides some fiber to
dilute all protein in the new grass and keeps cattle stomachs
healthy. I can pretty much guess what state the grass is in by the
consistency of the cow patty. I want something about the consistency
of pumpkin pie (sorry if you’re reading this with breakfast.)

I have grazed the cattle for the last several years on a rotational
basis. What this means is the cattle eat small pieces of pasture for
a few days then are moved on to the next section. This way, they eat
the best of the vegetation and keep the pasture in a growing or
immature state. I plan to move the cattle more often this year as
that should give them more carbohydrates which will help the heavier
cattle finish more quickly. It seems the cattle eat a higher
concentration of protein the further
down the plant they eat. Younger cattle probably benefit
more from higher protein as opposed to more energy; however I believe
cattle typically find the food they need so everyone should find
something of benefit to eat.

I plan to use something called a “brix refractometer” this year. I’ve
seen these used by beekeepers to check sugar content. Sugar is the
energy that helps cattle finish well so the refractometer should help
me find the best pasture for my cattle. It’s not like I plan to pass
over some pasture because of my readings however I can discover which
grass or legume varieties get me the energy I desire. I can also find
out what time of day the plants have collected enough sunshine based
on sugar content to provide my best weight gains.

Finally, I think I have finally achieved my best management practice
in grazing cattle; I am not making any hay this year. Each time I cut
hay, I remove nitrogen and nutrients from the soil which
means I have to add fertilizer the following year. When the cattle
harvest that forage themselves they will return almost all of it to
the soil in manure. The act of cutting hay also removes the canopy of
grass and legumes which keep the soil cool-a perfect environment for
earthworms. The worms do the work of converting leftover grass and
cattle scat back into soil, they also keep the soil aerated and able
to hold more rain.

Soon I will invite several of my favorite bovine buddies to join me
in a salad bar made of alfalfa, orchard grass, clover, rye grass all
surrounded by a garnish of electric fence. It may just appear to
others as cattle doing what cattle are good at, however for me it is
a pasture party.

Letter to Dave

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Dear Dave,

It has been two weeks of repair and replacement. The winter takes a toll on not only humans but the equipment we use to survive the
season. I find that most of our equipment is best repaired by others
in that I most often break whatever item I use to make the repair; a zero-sum deal. I always hear people speak of “non-destructive
testing,” it must be a myth-I cannot imagine such a thing.

I heard our nephew, Jamie stopped in Carrington for dinner on his way
to the North Dakota Winter Shows; sounds like a good trip. I still
plan to meet you for breakfast yet this spring. I hope we can visit
some of the Real-Time Kinetic gps towers that have been set-up for
the farmers out there. I remember the odd people we met on top of the
hill, where some antennas are set, last time I was there and so will
bring my camera.

Dave, you and I grew up in the country and we drove rear wheel drive
cars all winter long. I think this fact inoculated us from fear of
winter driving. Lisa and I were comparing notes and we were surprised at how often we drive on roads we feel are quite passable only to hear horror stories from others about the “awful” roads upon which we’ve just driven. Driving in the winter is like swinging tree to tree on a vine; you don’t let one go until you grasp the next. What I mean is I find a target (sign, yellow line, white line or shoulder of road) to guide me along until I can find another target to guide me. If I can’t find a target I slow down or stop until the wind dies down and another target presents itself. I cannot remember the roads and streets ever being more clear and drivable; happily some highway departments are still coming in under budget. I think complaining about winter driving in Minnesota is similar to residing in Hawaii and complaining about all that “awful” beach sand.

I am about chest high into my letter to you, Dave, and have yet to
mention Charlie Sheen. The movie “Broadcast News” predicted that
network news would eventually dumb itself down to a point where it would be like “Entertainment Tonight” or any of the other
Hollywood-oriented television shows. It seems even some local
television (we still enjoy WDAZ) now feeds us this pablum as they treat characters like Sheen and Lindsey Lohan as actual news. I’ve also noticed some television news anchors now comment on the news stories and give their own opinions the same deep reverence normally reserved for news of fire or accident. If there was ever a case to support your local newspaper, then the dilution of the authority of television news is it. It is sometimes like sitting down to a nice steak meal only to find you are being served jello with fake whipped cream.

Tell everyone hello and watch for my arrival when spring arrives as
the roads are just too “awful” for travel right now.

You’re little bro’

A Danie Day II

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“I had a Danie day,” this is a phrase that sounds innocent and maybe
even enjoyable. However, I am like the little boy who sees dead people
in the movie, “the Sixth Sense” in that I know the truth. Today I
have the far-off look of a man who’s seen too much; today I
had a “Danie Day.”

Danie Packard is my farm business management instructor through the Thief River Falls (Minnesota) Technical College and a wonderful guy. He
does the work of an interpreter as he takes the story of our farm and
translates it into a language which is international, the language of
numbers and totals. Danie takes all of my book work and condenses it
into a report which explains where we spend money and earn money on our
little farm. I would be unable to be innovative and creative without
Danie to explain my method to those who finance me. Danie is
important to me and a very talented person.

Okay, that was the disclaimer, gird your loins Packard-here it comes.
Sisyphus was a King in Greek mythology condemned to roll a mammoth
boulder up a hill, only to see it roll back down after each effort.
Sisyphus had to do this for all eternity. This is similar to a day
spent gathering financial information and completing my taxes with
Danie; it is a “Danie Day.”
It is painful, you fail just at the point of success and it lasts
eternally. I always arrive confident that my ducks are correctly
arranged. Under constant questioning, my confidence dissolves
as I forget data such as the last four digits of my social security
number and even my own middle name. It’s just that my understanding
of our farm is very concrete and real whereas putting it on paper is
very abstract. I have even felt a little sorry for myself after a
good, thorough “Danie Day;” after which, I will sometimes watch a
movie such as,
“the Grapes of Wrath,” just to remind me how good I really have it.

About noon we broke for lunch. I noticed my hands were shaking and
very nearly vibrated the contents of my sandwich onto the tray in
front of me. It was obvious that my nervous system was under a great
deal of stress. I called Lisa and got a little dose of her calm,
soothing voice which helped. There is no aspect of what I do on our
farm that is nearly as painfully boring or stressful as documenting
the act in Danie’s little office of pain. If one day of my year has
to be spent there being waterboarded with paper work, then the only
way to make up for it is that all of the rest of the days of the year
must be Christmas; complete with an endless supply of Kolache and
chocolate beer. It is the only just remedy of which I can think.

We eventually reached a completed stack of paperwork three inches
high as I felt the animation drain from my body. As I drove home, I
could see the multiple colors of the setting sun as they refracted
through the tears of my exhaustion. My shoulders ached and the inner
workings of my body were the consistency of old concrete. I had just
experienced, a “Danie Day.”

Letter to Dave

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Dear Dave,

This letter has been delayed by at least 45 minutes while I manage our indoor herd of three cats. Twitch causes constant trouble and teases little Laine when he’s bored. Magoo needs more attention than any two year-old and even now has tipped a container of cereal and is testing its sovereignty. We scold Twitch when he is mean which causes him to go sit on his “pouting chair.” He sees my admonishments as play and leaps from his perch then beats me back to the computer where he sprawls on the seat of my chair and waits to be petted. We have no human children, however we have definitely have kids.

Today is a big day Dave; I am returning the heifers to our brother, Steve. I purchased these cattle in early 2010. During their time here, they have grown into a sort of bovine adolescence and are now ready to go back to their original home. When I deliver steers for butcher, it is a one way trip and a bit sad. However, today’s heifers will see familiar surroundings and their mother cow at the end of a road which leads to Viking, Minnesota. These animals start their life with Steve, spend some time at our place, then back to Steve’s farm. The only down side to this arrangement is that the cattle never get to hyphenate their last names because they are always Nelsons.

I tasted spring on Monday. If we first covet with our eyes, then it is logical that we first taste with our nose. Oppressive cold makes it impossible to smell anything and Monday was just warm enough to enjoy the freshness of winter which tastes a lot like spring. The first little warm spell of the fourth season is almost like seeing weakness in a seemingly unbeatable opponent. I know now that winter will one day die and it seems a little more approachable, perhaps the snow and cold is not so bad. I understand winter’s need to be, at times, stern and unapproachable. Mother nature enjoys irony and I understand the old hag will send winter back in cold and hard next week to mock the feelings winter and I briefly shared.

I hope Carrington, North Dakota and you are doing well. The last time we spoke was before Christmas; at that time Carrington had already received two more inches of snow than it received in the whole season of 2009-2010. We have received so much snow that I am now using a box blade to drag any new snow out into the pasture. I pile all of our snow next to ditches or other drainage so hopefully our spring will not be so wet-oh, that it was that simple in the Red River Valley. I plan to visit you for breakfast before the summer so you will have to find a piece of farm equipment for me to purchase-gotta deduct that mileage for taxes.

Tell, the wife, the kinder and their spouses hello

your little bro’

Temple Grandin

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Showing animals some kindness and understanding life from their
perspective has been a concern for good farmers for a long time, it
became fashionable January 16th, 2011-more on that later.

Temple Grandin is a professor at Colorado State University who holds
a doctorate in animal science. She has written several bestsellers on
both animal and human behavior and is responsible for the humane
design of livestock handling facilities in better than half of all
meat processing plants in the United States. Oh yeah, she also has
autism.

I have read Temple Grandin’s articles in the past and use some of her
techniques for handling cattle. Her studies on cattle handling are
basically how to use a cows tendencies to the handler’s best benefit.
Cows like good footing, enjoy walking up a slope better than down,
hate loud noises, enjoy being in a herd and find shiny dangling items
to be suspect. They also like to walk in circles and enjoy almost 360
degree vision. After I’ve read an article by Grandin, I always feel
fired up about cattle and inspired to do a better job in their
handling.

Temple Grandin is not a vegetarian. She feels cattle are there to
provide meat but also wishes that they be treated in a humane matter.
Cattle that are calm cause less trouble, normally do not injure
humans and they taste better. If we are to be good stewards of what
we are in charge of then giving cattle a good life prior to their end
on a plate is the right thing to do. Grandin sums it up best, “I
think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we’ve got
to do it right. We’ve got to give those animals a decent life and
we’ve got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect.”

Claire Danes stars in the movie “Temple Grandin.” It tells the story
of a woman who sees conversation in pictures and finds spoken
language to be of only secondary importance. She does not speak until
the age of four and would have been destined to an institutionalized
life had it not been for a determined and innovative mother. Although
Grandin cannot even see the signs of human happiness or sadness, she
can read the face of a cow without trouble. She is able to step into
their lives and therefore design handling facilities that make their
contact with humans much less stressful. Lisa and I loved the movie;
it’s about as far from removed from status as a romantic-comedy as
possible but the movie touched our emotions. You’d have to love
animals to understand. The only location I could find the movie to
buy or rent was “Mr. Movies,” however the large internet outlets all
have the show for sale. It would be excellent in the classroom.

If you think the movie “Temple Grandin” was something no one ever
heard of or saw, you would be incorrect. January 16th, at the Golden
Globe awards, Clair Danes received the best actress award for her
portrayal of Temple Grandin in a movie of the same name. The show
also garnered seven awards at last fall’s Primetime Emmy awards. It
seems a little compassion for animals is not only ethical; it is
popular-maybe even fashionable. That’s just fine; what’s really more
important is it is right thing to do, as it’s been always.

Letter to Dave

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Dear Dave,

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to the start of the Christmas season. This is not your Christmas letter but may contain an occasional reference to Christmas buried within the text because it is so close.

This is the time of the year when I like to end my letters by saying “the cattle are all belly deep in straw.” I think this is a phrase that exudes comfort during this very cold season. I cannot say that this year as I have yet to get my straw home. I have been using the top part of my hay stacks to bed for the cattle but that cannot continue as hay is too nice for use as bedding. Hopefully, Granta-Claus and his sleigh full of straw will make an appearance this week-end.

The cold makes me worry about cattle or any animals outside. I think a good cattleman recognizes the discomfort of his animals, it’s the difference between being their captor or their caretaker. I am always amazed by those who seem to believe animals can survive on air- with no shelter, food or a bowl of water that is not in the form of ice. These are the same folks that should receive a ticket to a land where they live under the same care and they themselves offer, it would make them more sympathetic and stimulate a little intelligence.

Dave, I have to recommend one excellent hour of television. Check your listings for the “True Story of Lonesome Dove.” It is the story of Charles Goodnight’s and Oliver Loving’s cattle drive which occurred in the late 1860′s. There are many parallels between the fictionalized account of the drive and the real story, however many of the sub-plots seemed to have been made up to give the story greater depth. “Lonesome Dove,” whether real or fictionalized, is a story I find deeply moving. Maybe it is the friendship between the two men or just the courage it took to begin the crushing adventure of moving cattle in the American South. Anyway Dave, the true story is just as good as the fictionalized one, just a little shorter.

I made chicken casserole last night, Dave; no one can expect much from a paragraph that starts with that sentence. I grilled the chicken, steamed the vegetables in the drippings and threw everything together. Despite all my efforts, it was bland although filling. How come no dish ever made tastes as good as the little burnt pieces left in the bowl? If someone could figure a way to make the whole casserole taste like what is left behind it would change the culinary world, like muffin tops in which all of the muffin is the top.

I cleaned snow off one shed with a roof rake yesterday, Dave. It is an act that should be assigned to bad people who need much punishment. The good news is I will only have to perform this act another 10 times or so this winter. I can accept the cold but the snow is like icing on a cake made of-well you know from what it’s made. I guess we live in the wrong area to complain about the snow. Better to light a candle than curse the dark so I will just keep cleaning snow until I can complain about the mosquitoes. Greet all to whom I’m related with Christmas wishes from Lisa and I.

You’re little bro